Star Trek Into Darkness

Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” and Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-nominated “Gravity” are the top contenders at the upcoming 40th annual Saturn Awards, with eight nominations each. “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” 2012’s highest-grossing film, earned seven nominations, while “Iron Man 3,” “Pacific Rim,” “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “Thor: The Dark World” were recognized with five nominations each. On the television side, HBO’s lavish fantasy “Game of Thrones” received five nominations, as did AMC’s drama “Breaking Bad” and TNT’s “Falling Skies.” Founded in 1972 to recognize films often overlooked by mainstream awards series, the Saturn Awards fetes projects in a broad swath of genres, including science fiction, horror, fantasy, thriller and action/adventure — there are also awards for best independent film with nominees including critical favorites “12 Years a Slave” and “Inside Llewyn Davis”; best international film (a […]

Benedict Cumberbatch inspires the sort of rabid, overwhelming Internet love usually reserved for cats wearing sweaters and cute baby videos, but sitting with the actor even briefly, it’s sort of easy to understand why. In the course of 20 minutes, Cumberbatch, while enjoying a cup of tea and some Swedish Fish, sounded off with ease and eloquence on his personal relationship to the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, his “porn star dragon” Smaug — one of the two characters to receive title billing in the latest epic fantasy from Peter Jackson, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” — and dealing with international celebrity (specifically being recognized for his acclaimed portrayal of Sherlock Holmes by a waitress in Oklahoma, a tale he shared by dropping in and out of a rural American accent). Check out what he had to say below. Hero […]

Screenwriters J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have been hired to join Roberto Orci in penning the next installment in the “Star Trek” film franchise. The as-yet-untitled sequel has no release date, and no director set, though rumors have suggested the job could go to Joe Cornish (“Attack the Block”). By this point, Orci is a “Trek” veteran, having written the scripts (with Alex Kurtzman and then Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof) for the previous two movies in Paramount’s rebooted series that were directed by J.J. Abrams, 2009’s “Star Trek” and this past summer’s “Star Trek Into Darkness.” The recent movie prospered at the box office, earning more than $444 million worldwide after opening to mostly positive reviews in May, though many fans groused about the veil of secrecy that surrounded the villain who was played by Benedict Cumberbatch, a character first […]